1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a folder of the buckle fold multi-plate type, which folds card stock, and selectively applies one or two pocket folds thereto in a single machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many folding machines available, which apply one or more folds to sheets of paper and the like. These machines use more than one fold plate to accomplish the multi folds.
Paper stock used to make products with multi folds is usually of no greater thickness than four points, which can be readily bent around rollers in a fairly tight radius to form folds, without damage to the paper itself, or to the finish on the paper.
Card stock, which is of ten to eighteen point thickness, is also used to make products, which have one or more folds.
Card stock, due to its thickness, does not bend about the tight radius found in machines that fold four point paper stock, and the use of such machines to fold sheets of card stock would result in damage to its finish or damage to the stock itself. While some of the available machines might be able to apply a single buckle fold to card stock, the addition of a second fold in these machines is not practical due to space, and other considerations.
The use of a second machine to form a second fold is prohibitive due to the inconvenience, and costs involved. There has, therefore, been considerable interest in developing a machine that will perform one or more buckle folds on sheets of card stock.
The folder of the invention selectively applies one or two buckle folds to sheets of card stock, without the necessity of added equipment, and can be easily changed from a single fold to a two fold folder, and back again without disassembly of the folder.